Fireworks 2009: in the Hudson opposite midtown

For anyone starting to make plans (including hotel or dinner reservations) for the Macy%26#39;s fireworks show on the Fourth of July, be aware that the current plans call for placing all the barges in the Hudson River between approximately (the exact locations are still being tweaked) 34th Street and 46th Street. There will be no fireworks in the East River, nor (at least as presently planned) will there be fireworks dowtown by the Statue of Liberty and the Battery.

Fireworks 2009: in the Hudson opposite midtown

Yeah! I know this will anger AlicePalace, though.

I bet they%26#39;re scaling it down to save money.... It has to cost the city millions to shut down the FDR drive and put all those baricades up, aside from everything else.

Fireworks 2009: in the Hudson opposite midtown

Great info, thanks for letting us know.

No anger here, and I do thank GWB for the update.

Still, this sounds like a horrible idea. 34th to 46th on the west side? Better hope it%26#39;s not hot, stormy, or involves a free Diana Ross concert.

If they don%26#39;t want to shut down the FDR, I don%26#39;t imagine they%26#39;ll want to shut down the West Side Highway either. So where are they going to put everyone?

I suppose they could paddle Diana Ross up and down the river in a kayak so everyone gets a glimpse.

Greenwhiteblue-

Thanks so much for the info. WE have been asking other posters about the fireworks and someone did mention that they heard the fireworks would be held on the Hudson side. With that said, we are coming into town on the 4th and were hoping to see the fireworks from the Millenium UN Hotel since they had views of the East River. Now that it will be on the Hudson River, where would one be able to view them? are there any hotels that have a view of the Hudson? We did nto want to have to ';stake out'; a spot hours before the fireworks began.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S Interesting pen name. you did not get that from the Hair Musical did you? They have an irreverent song about the US flag where they intentionally scramble (and sometimes add) colors represented on the US flag

Dizzy:

I know you don%26#39;t want to hear this but if you have a

real interest in the fireworks I would start looking

at a cruise for that night. With that location the

only place you will be able to see them will be the

West side Highway if they close it off. If they do

have them near the Statue but on the west side the

viewing area is so small it would be a madhouse.

You might try one of the riverside hotels in New

Jersey but my original recommendation of Roosevelt

Island is clearly out as is the hotel you were going

to stay at.

My wife works in the area on the west side and the

only year we went to her work place when they had a

similar plan it rained and we ended up watching them

from indoors and it was bad. Sorry

For fireworks on the Hudson, you will find the same sort of thing as fireworks on the East River: the shorefront road (in this case, 12th Avenue) will be closed and turned into a vantage point for people on foot. Actually, it will be a little easier to manage, as there are many more access points, as opposed to the limited-access FDR. In addition, you don%26#39;t have the headache of people stopping their cars on the BQE to wach fireworks, and thereby stopping traffic (and I will say nothing of people pulling the emergency cords on trains going over the East River Bridges...) I think that you will have a good view from river-facing rooms in the New Yorker; the problem, of course, is that it is the New Yorker...

thanks GBW and Bilman for the info-

Bilman- I did look at some of the cruise links another poster had sent me and they ranged from $80 pp for a box dinner and coupon for 2 drinks and one went as high as $377/pp for food and drink and jazz music. Once again we would have to get there by 6 to get on the cruise and we are going to see the Hair musical at 2 pm that day. I did not want to feel rushed. FYI, our real intention for going to NYC was to see the show and we thought an added bonus would be to see the fireworks.

Last question for both of you, my dad says there is a restaurant at the top of Rockefeller Center, he thought we might be able to see fireworks from there? I know the Millenium Hotel in Times Square (or is it the Marriott Marquis) has (or had) a revolving restaurant, maybe that is an option too. If not, not a problem. we%26#39;ll enjoy the weekend nonetheless.

Thanks for the info and advice

That restaurant was the Rainbow Room and it recently

closed but again watching the fireworks from inside

a building is really a bad idea. I did it once and I

was close to the action but unless you are outdoors it

is likely you would not get the whole effect. GWB

seems to think that the West Side HGWY will be closed

and he is absolutely right about more access. I just don%26#39;t think being inside will give you the experience

you are looking for. This change in venue has thrown

a curve to all of us. Keep watching for GWB%26#39;s posts

on this he seems to be ahead of the curve and is

probably the best source.

sorry if im totally wrong with my directions here ...

I was looking at taking a circle line cruise on this day which departs from pier 83 on the west side, is this be the area where the fireworks would be taking place?

If so would it be hard getting your way to the cruise with the large crowd attending the fireworks (you board for the cruise at 4.30)